IngenuityFest Expands Leadership Team

CLEVELAND, Ohio (November 18, 2009) –IngenuityFest, the Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, announced today an expansion of its leadership team. The new team will consist of Founder/Artistic Director James Levin and newly appointed Executive Director Paula Grooms . Cleveland architect Doug Hoffman will lead IngenuityFest in his new role as board chairman. The new positions will allow Levin to focus on the artistic vision of the organization while Grooms focuses on the business and administrative goals.

“Paula has a very strong sense of marketing, sponsorships and financial viability, all key components in the organization’s near future,” said Levin, who established the festival in 2004 with Thomas Mulready and in recent years had served as both executive and artistic director. “Her taking over such administrative functions as budget and corporate fund-raising allows me to focus on the programming of the festival, the aspect that I enjoy most.”

Grooms, who has been involved with IngenuityFest almost from the beginning as outside consultant, board director and, since 2007, managing director, will provide administrative continuity and experience as Levin divides his time between the festival and his new duties as director for the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Wooster.

“With strong fiscal management I am confident that we can throw a world-class festival even during these challenging economic times,” Grooms said, “We are continuing our drive to retire debt; we have retired about $70,000 in debt during the past two years. And this has been achieve while creating a long-term strategy for growth over the next three to five years.

IngenuityFest’s exciting next phase will be overseen by Hoffman, a principal in the architecture firm of Weber Murphy Fox whom Levin calls a “dream leader” for a cutting-edge nonprofit organization. Hoffman said he’s pleased to lead the board specifically because he believes in Levin’s vision of a unique festival that merges the best Cleveland has to offer in art, music and technology.

“Our long-term goals include expanding Ingenuity from a three-day, once-a-year event to hosting multiple events at multiple sites, promoting educational opportunities for young entrepreneurs, forging links between technological innovators and artists, and generally providing positive exposure and a creative outlet for the otherwise hidden talent in this community and the broader region,” Hoffman said.

“The dollars invested in Ingenuity are recycled again and again in the arts and culture of Northeast Ohio,” he added. “This festival truly embraces and showcases the creativity within our community and challenges artists, musicians and technology innovators to collaborate, invent and genuinely inspire a whole new generation of Clevelanders.”

IngenuityFest, the Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to annual presentations of Northeast Ohio’s and the world’s most creative and innovative work and to fostering new, imaginative collaborations between the region’s arts and technology sectors. The 2010 festival from September 24th to 26th in the lower level of Veterans Memorial (Detroit-Superior) Bridge, which carries Ohio Routes 6 and 20 over the Cuyahoga River. More information on the festival can be found at www.ingenuitycleveland.com.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (November 18, 2009) –IngenuityFest, the Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, announced today an expansion of its leadership team. The new team will consist of Founder/Artistic Director James Levin and newly appointed Executive Director Paula Grooms . Cleveland architect Doug Hoffman will lead IngenuityFest in his new role as board chairman. The new positions will allow Levin to focus on the artistic vision of the organization while Grooms focuses on the business and administrative goals.

“Paula has a very strong sense of marketing, sponsorships and financial viability, all key components in the organization’s near future,” said Levin, who established the festival in 2004 with Thomas Mulready and in recent years had served as both executive and artistic director. “Her taking over such administrative functions as budget and corporate fund-raising allows me to focus on the programming of the festival, the aspect that I enjoy most.”

Grooms, who has been involved with IngenuityFest almost from the beginning as outside consultant, board director and, since 2007, managing director, will provide administrative continuity and experience as Levin divides his time between the festival and his new duties as director for the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Wooster.

“With strong fiscal management I am confident that we can throw a world-class festival even during these challenging economic times,” Grooms said, “We are continuing our drive to retire debt; we have retired about $70,000 in debt during the past two years. And this has been achieve while creating a long-term strategy for growth over the next three to five years.

IngenuityFest’s exciting next phase will be overseen by Hoffman, a principal in the architecture firm of Weber Murphy Fox whom Levin calls a “dream leader” for a cutting-edge nonprofit organization. Hoffman said he’s pleased to lead the board specifically because he believes in Levin’s vision of a unique festival that merges the best Cleveland has to offer in art, music and technology.

“Our long-term goals include expanding Ingenuity from a three-day, once-a-year event to hosting multiple events at multiple sites, promoting educational opportunities for young entrepreneurs, forging links between technological innovators and artists, and generally providing positive exposure and a creative outlet for the otherwise hidden talent in this community and the broader region,” Hoffman said.

“The dollars invested in Ingenuity are recycled again and again in the arts and culture of Northeast Ohio,” he added. “This festival truly embraces and showcases the creativity within our community and challenges artists, musicians and technology innovators to collaborate, invent and genuinely inspire a whole new generation of Clevelanders.”

IngenuityFest, the Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to annual presentations of Northeast Ohio’s and the world’s most creative and innovative work and to fostering new, imaginative collaborations between the region’s arts and technology sectors. The 2010 festival from September 24th to 26th in the lower level of Veterans Memorial (Detroit-Superior) Bridge, which carries Ohio Routes 6 and 20 over the Cuyahoga River. More information on the festival can be found at www.ingenuitycleveland.com.